US-based BioVentrix has announced that placement of its Revivent-TC ventricular enhancement system, via Less Invasive Ventricular Enhancement (LIVE) procedure, has been successfully expanded to a second European clinical site.
The procedure, which is used to reshape and reduce the left ventricle (LV), was performed on a 64-year-old man suffering from ischemic heart failure. The transcatheter procedure was performed without opening the patient's chest and without the use of a heart-lung bypass machine.
Within three days of the LIVE procedure, the patient's ejection fraction (EF), or the volume of blood pumped out of the LV with each heartbeat, demonstrated a 45% improvement, rising from a preoperative measurement of just 31%.
The Revivent-TC system utilizes a myocardial anchor identical to the company's flagship surgical product, the Revivent myocardial anchoring system, which is commercially available and in clinical use at major heart centers throughout Europe.
Prior to the Revivent technology, reshaping of the LV involved an invasive procedure known as surgical ventricular restoration (SVR), which required cutting through the patient's sternum to expose the heart, then stopping and supporting it with cardiopulmonary (heart-lung) bypass while incisions were made into the LV to remove the scarred, non-functioning tissue.
The invasiveness of SVR limits its use due to the fragile nature of many HF patients.
BioVentrix chief medical officer Dr Lon Annest noted the placement of the Revivent-TC ventricular enhancement system using a transcatheter approach fully leverages the concept of treating heart failure in a less invasive manner.
"For the first time, the quality of life for patients with very few treatment alternatives can be dramatically improved without exposing the patient to undue surgical risk. The LIVE procedure not only reduces excessive volume and wall stress, but it also reshapes the left ventricle to improve its pumping efficiency, which is key to treating the underlying cause of heart failure," Annest added.
